The Proper Way
by inu-luvver10
Summary: Chihiro's been waiting for 5 years when a mysterious and beautiful stranger joins her class. Rating may change in later chapters
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I give full and unconditonal rights for Spirited Away to Hayao Miyazaki and Studion Ghibli. I own nothing

Chihiro sighed for the umpteenth time, pushing away from her computer desk and spinning her chair lazily in circles. She studdied the walls of her room as they slowly passed by, the pastel green paint and the posters and pictures of dragons covering it. She had once again browsed every single site for every new tidbitt about her passion.

As she settled into her new life in the new house, she had started with the public library, pouring through every book on myths and magical creatures she could find. That had lasted about a year and a half before running out. She'd started looking for other outlets for her obsession, classes, TV and the local bookstore. Those hadn't lasted very long at all before she was once again at a loss for what to do.

Then came what she had been searching for. A seemingly endless supply of information updated on a daily basis. High speed internet. For three years now she had scoured the internet for every site with even a mention of dragons, but once again she had browsed every new post and run out.

Her parents didn't understand her at all. She never told them about her journey to the spirit world. They'd just think she was nuts. So she's kept it to herself, the only inkling she allowed to show was the dragons. All of her time was spent looking at and reading about them. Her mother kept encouraging her to go out and make some friends, but whenever she tried to she ended up making a fool of herself and getting laughed out of wherever she was. Her father on the other hand was much tougher on her. He'd always wanted her to do great things, so he pushed her to study hard and get into a good high school. But when her 8th grade year had come and she'd been only making average grades, he decided to put an end to the dragons. He'd banned anything related to dragons from the house. It took a month for him to realize that she had at least four hidden stashes of pictures and stories, and that he was fighting a futile war. And now her freshman year was here and she'd been accepted to a decent high school, though not the one her father had hoped.

She knew that she should have been studying right then, but she knew that as soon as she cracked a book that her focus would slide away into more exciting realms, so she sat in her chair, slowly spinning. Should she draw? No inspiration for that. Work on her story? Writers block killed that idea in it's tracks.

With another sigh she pushed the chair around again, spinning some more, drifting off into a day dream. The images swam into life before her glazed eyes, taking her back to the top of the stone steps above the sometimes river. The dream became more and more real as she drifted deeper, hearing someone calling out to her.

"Chihiro,"

She quickly turned, smiling as she saw the piercing jade jade eyes of the person who'ed changed her life forever.

"Haku, I've missed you." She replied walking towards him, taking in his new, older looking form.

The wind picked up then, blowing her hair into her face and rustling the grass in the meadow.

"I've missed you too," he said, smiling back at the beautiful young woman, brushing a strand of hair from her face, " I meant to make good on my promise long ago. I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I always knew you'd come."

"Now we can be together forever."

"Oh, Haku."

Chihiro threw herself into Haku's open arms, nestling herself against his warm chest.

"Haku, I.."

"Chihiro, get down here for dinner!"

Her father voice brought her out of her dream, bringing her back to reality with a jolt.

"Wow, that was the corniest one yet. I've been reading too many romance stories." she muttered to herself, rising from her chair.

She sighed again and headed down the stairs to her waiting parents. Her mother was the first one to see her enter the dining room.

"Chihiro honey, could you help me set the table."

"Of course mother." she replied, taking the plates and arranging them at the place settings.

As the all sat down to eat, her father piped up about school.

"What were you up to up there? I hope you were studying hard." he pressed, "I spoke to your language arts teacher today. He says that you have a lot of talent, but you need to put a little more effort into the course work."

"Yeah, writing stories is the only thing that I'm good at." She replied, poking at her udon.

"Oh Chihiro you have a lot of talent. Look at all of those beautiful pictures you've drawn. I'm sure that you could do anything that you wanted too." Her mother remarked encouragingly.

"Thank you mother. May I be excused? I'm really very tired."

"Of course dear. You need a good nights sleep for school tomorrow." her father said, "Good night."

Whenever her parents brought up the fact that they were disappointed with the grades she was getting it always brought her spirits down. She did want to make them proud, but Haku had changed everything. It had been 5 years now, and she still believed that he would come back for her, he'd promised that he'd see her again.

She slid into her favorite blue and white pinstriped pajama's and turned out the light. Once she'd gotten situated under the covers she picked up the beautiful white dragon statuette on her night stand.

"Good night my dragon. Please come back for me." she wispered as she gently kissed the dragons nose.

Setting it down once again, she rolled over and got comfortable for the night, slowly drifting off for real dreams to take her.

I don't know how often I'll be able to update this story as I have 2 small children, but I'l do my best to keep this story going!


	2. Chapter 2

Chihiro sped down the hill from her house on her bike. She loved the wind racing through her hair, it gave her the sensation of flying with Haku again, though the ride wasn't nearly as smooth. She imagined the feeling of the smooth scales and his ribbed horns and the sensation of power that his immense body contained. It was the most beatiful thing that she'd ever felt.

Reaching the bottom of the hill, she turned down the road towards her high school, dreading the day ahead. It wasn't that she didn't like school, she was just an outcast. The other students had seen her preoccupation with dragons as strange and different, and had not wanted to readilly accept her. That was the problem with small town schools, all the students had been together since elementry school and she was an outsider. Even if she'd been like everyone else it would have still taken some time to be accepted by the other children. But she was 15 now and still didn't fit in, and she didn't expect she ever would, so she suffered through it and waited patiently for her knight in shining scales to come for her.

She locked her bike into the rack and silently walked to her class, expecting today to be like every other day. She slid open the door to the room, barely taking notice of the gaggle of other students at the back of the room, taking her seat near the door. She prepared her desk for the day, getting out her pencil case and note taking paper though she rarely took notes as it was nearly impossible to keep focused ont he material at hand.

The bell rang and the other student took their seats waiting for the teacher to come in. Chihiro paid no attention to the girls sitting behind her muttering to each other about something or other. The teacher entered the room and everyone fell silent.

"Rise," he commanded,"Good morning class."

"Good morning sensei." they chanted back.

"Sit. We have a new student joining us today from Yokohama. Mamoto would you please come to the front of the class and introduce yourself."

Chihiro glanced up from her doodle, not really expecting much. A tall young man walked forward between the desks, dark hair pulled back with a hair he reached the front of the class and turned around, she gasped. A pair of mischiviously sparkling green eyes looked over the class from the most handsome face she'd ever seen.

"Good morning everyone. My name is Mamoto Shohaku. I just moved here from Yokohama. It's a pleasure to meet everyone." he said as he bowed to the class before returning to his seat.

Chihiro's head was spinning, she knew that was Haku. Tha had to be Haku. The green eyes, the green tint to the hair and the painfully handsome face. She was so sure that was her dragon. But if that was Haku, why didn't he even look her way? Wouldn't he have come up to her as soon as she'd come in? Wouldn't he have given some inkling of recognition? Some sign that he knew her?

Her mind was racing with questions, and as a result her inattentivness was worse than usual. She hadn't even heard the teacher calll her name. It wasn't until he came over to her desk and stood in front of her that she noticed that she was trying to get an answer from her.

"I'm sorry sir, I didnt hear the question."

Laughter rang out from her classmates as she turned, red faced, back to her notes.

The 50 minute class passed agonizingly slow as she sat there contemplating the meaning of this stranger and who he really was. When the bell finally did ring, Chihiro grabbed her bag and ran from the class, just needing to get away from this stranger. She didn't even notice the people she ran into as she raced down the hall towards a flight of stairs. Taking the steps two at a time she quickly reached the top, bursting through a door onto the roof of the school.

It had started drizzling since this morning, and Chihiro was soon wet. But she didn't even notice as the damp cloth began to stick to her skin, her head was filled with conflicting thoughts. Tears came unexpectedly to her eyes as she thought about Haku, his promise to her, and all the years she'd been waiting for him just to be tormented by this stranger who so resembled him.

A soft click came from behind her and Chihiro spun to see if a teacher had found her in the off limits area. She gasped as she saw the new student standing there with his achingly familiar face.

"Who are you?" She pleaded trying not to sob.

A smiled played on the boys face, his eyes sparking with mirth, "Have you forgotten me so easily, Sen? I didn't think that the fake name would fool you so well."

"It wasn't the name." she cried,"You didn't even look at me! You talked to everyone in the class except me this morning! What was I supposed to think?"

Unable to hold them back any longer, sobs racked her body, shaking her slight form as she collapsed to the wet concrete beneath her.

"Oh Chihiro, I was just trying to play the part of the new student. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." he explained walking towards her, a look of pain and confusion marring his face.

"I've been waiting for you for 5 years! 5 years! You promised me that you'd see me again so I waited for you! Why did you wait for so long?" she yelled, all of the emotions inside her pushed past the boiling point, "I've been completely alone. I couldn't tell anyone what happened. My parent's don't understand me, and the other student think I'm a freak!"

Haku looked down, " I needed more power. You see, I had to train. I couldn't take on a form in the human world outside my river. That took considerably more power than I had at the time. I wanted to come to your world. To see what you had here. If you even remembered me."

"Remember you? How do you thing that I could ever forget you? You think that after everything that happened back then that I could just go home and back to a normal life like it never even happened?"

"I'm sorry."

Chihiro looked up at him. The pain that had resonated in those two simple words was heart breaking. She stood, her hair and cloths soaked through, water running down her face, hiding her tears.

"So it really is you? You finally came?" she whispered.

"Yes, it's me. I truly am sorry that you have suffered so." he said.

"It's me who should be sorry Haku. You just got here and all I've done is yell at you." She looked up shyly.

"Can you forgive me for keeping you waiting for so long?" he asked, his eyes pleading with her as much as her voice.

Chihiro laughed a little, her eyes red from crying, "Of course I forgive you, you silly dragon."

Haku's face burst into a beautiful smile as he stepped forward and lifted her into the air, twirling around in jubilation. They laughed together, enjoying this beautiful moment together and both silently wishing for many more to come.


	3. Chapter 3

After giving their teacher some story about Chihiro not feeling well and Haku taking her home, they snuck off to a secluded area of the woods to talk. Haku had gently led her through the maze of tree, helping her navigate the fallen logs and slippery stones wet from the rains. The two of them took shelter under a giant old fir tree where it was still mostly dry and protected.

"How long can you stay Haku?" Chihiro asked, slightly afraid of the answer, afraid that he would have to leave her all over again.

"About a week is all I have the power for." He replied looking down again.

"Oh."

Haku looked over to her downcast face, "Hey cheer up! I have a plan."

"Really? I don't know what I'll do when you leave again." she told him, "It was hard enough the first time."

"I know. I don't want you to have to suffer anymore. I've been working very hard for these last 5 years, getting everything in the Bath House in shape. I wanted everything to be perfect. Rin is managing the staff and I've never seen such flawless customer service. I got Kamaji an apprentice to lighten his work load and they seem to be getting on well." Haku explained, "I've been waiting and preparing for when I had enough power to come here to see you. So let's make the most of this time together."

"Ok, so what's your plan?" she chirped, feeling much more up beat.

Haku stood and bowed to her formally, "Ogino Chihiro, I would be honored if you would allow me to take you out on a date tonight."

Chihiro gasped, "Of course, I would love to!"

She jumped up off the bed of pine needles and threw her arms around Haku's neck, "But you'll have to meet my parent's first. They have this rule that they have to know who I'm going places with." Chihiro said, suddenly nervous.

"Well why don't you show me around the town until then. It'll give me an idea of where to take you." Haku suggested, knowing that they had some time to kill.

The pair navigated with ease back through the forest towards town, Chihiro internally fretting over the rumors that would start if she were seen by one of her classmates walking around town with Haku.

After a few minute of walking in silence, her chewing on her lip, she finally voiced her concerns, "Haku, what if someone from class sees us together?"

"What do you mean? Is it strange for a guy and girl to walk together?" He asked, puzzled.

"Oh no it's nothing like that." She hurriedly replied, "It's just that I'm the school outcast, and you're... well... popular. People would talk." she continued, slightly ashamed.

Haku smiled kindly at her, gently grasping her delicate chin in his thumb and forefinger and lifting her eyes to his, "If that's all it is, then let them talk. I don't care if the whole world talks about us. All that matters is that we care about each other. Right Chihiro?"

"I suppose." she replied, still nervously chewing on her lip.

"Well then don't fret about it. Would you feel better if I just took you home on the pretense of you not feeling well? Then I could still meet your parents and we wouldn't be seen together." he suggested chivalrously, not wanting to stress her anymore today.

A sigh of relief escaped her reddened lips, "Yes Haku, I would like that. My house is just up this hill. The blue one on the end."

Sweeping his arm wide and inviting, he told her, "Lead on, my lady."

Chihiro led her dragon up the steep hill face towards her house, circling around to the front as to avoid inquiring questions. Her dad would still be at work, so all she'd have to deal with was her more understanding mother, and she was glad for that.

"Mother, I'm home." she called to the seemingly empty house, motioning Haku in as she did so.

"What are you doing home so early, dear? Are you not feeling well?" her mother asked as she came around the corner from the utility room, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

"I was feeling a little nauseous so I came home. Don't worry I got a list of homework so I won't fall behind."

"Well that's good. And who's this charming young man?" she inquired smiling kindly at the green eyed stranger.

"Oh I'm sorry. Mother this is Haku. Haku this is my mother Yuuko." Chihiro said, exhilarated that her mother was meeting the man she had oft dreamed about.

"A pleasure to meet you maam." Haku replied graciously, lifting her hand a placing a gentle kiss to her fingers.

"Oh my. Such a proper gentleman, and handsome as well." her mother tittered, a blush coloring her cheeks.

"You honor me too much maam." he replied graciously, "May I escort Chihiro to her room so she can lay down?"

Taken aback by his flattery, her mother stammered out a yes, watching wide eyed as this perfect gentleman carefully helped her daughter up the stairs to her bed.

Haku opened the door, allowing Chihiro to enter unobstructed. She crawled across her bed to her dresser, wanting to get out of her school uniform and into something more comfortable. Pulling our her favorite pair of shorts and a baggy tshirt that said I heart New York on it, she excused herself to the bathroom to change.

Chihiro quickly locked the door, staring at her face in the mirror. Her cheeks burn with the blush that stained them, her eyes as wide as a frightened child. she pressed her fingers to her chest, marveling at how her heart flutter at the very thought of the young man waiting for her in her room. With clumsy fingers she undid the buttons of her uniform, cursing under her breath each time her fingers slipped on the tine bits of plastic. Finally she managed to remove the skirt and top and slide into her shorts and tshirt. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she left the bathroom and returned to her bedroom.

She opened the door, expecting him to be impatiently waiting for her. Instead he was seated in her computer chair, examining the tiny ceramic figurine from her nightstand.

"It's really quite beautiful." He said, still studying the minute detail the craftsman had so painstakingly etched into the medium.

"I bought it at a flea market a couple years ago. It reminded me of you." she added sheepishly.

"You flatter me too much." he said playfully, "If you're not careful it might go to my head."

"Oh now we wouldn't want that would we? An all powerful dragon with an ego to match? Whatever would we do?"

"All powerful, eh?" he said, looking up to the ceiling and thoughtfully tapping his chin, "I like the sound of that."

Chihiro laughed, getting down onto the floor and mock bowing at his feet, "Oh great master, I bow before you and pledge myself in worship unto your greatness."

As she raised her arms and torso to bow again a firm hand tightened around her wrist and pulled her up off the floor. With a startled 'eep!' she landed squarely in Haku's lap.

"You pledge yourself to me?" he growled, a possessive edge to his voice, "I like the sound of that even more."

Chihiro's eyes widened to the size of saucers, another strangled little noise escaping her lips.

"You want to know why I like that?" he practically purred into her ear.

All she could manage was a dumbfounded little nod.

Haku smiled at her then, a predatory glint in his eyes, "Because then I could do this whenever I wanted."

He slid a hand up to cradle the back of her head, pulling her closer and pressing a light kiss to her lips. Chihiro tensed for a moment, not knowing how to react, but soon melted into the heat barely restrained but still felt in the kiss. His lips moved in a gentle caress against her own, weakening her resolve with every brush.

Haku growled again, deep in his throat, as he felt her press closer, and deepened the kiss. Pressing his lips to hers a little more urgently. But all too soon he pulled away, knowing that they needed to take it slow, that she needed time to get used to his more dragonish characteristics. He really didn't want to scare her off.

"I think it's time to put you to bed, sweetling." He whispered, running a thumb over her blush stained cheeks, "You've had a very long and emotional day, and you could use a nap."

Chihiro opened her mouth to protest, not wanting to lose a moment with him, but a finger rose to cover her lips. Locking eyes with him, she marveled as he began to sing a beautiful tune in language she'd never heard. The words seemed to have a life of their own, passing through her and leaving a feeling of contentment behind. It wasn't long before she started to drift off, feeling safe and secure in her dragon's arms. She knew that her dreams would be peaceful ones, and with that thought she fell into the velvety darkness.

Well there's chapter 3. Teaser for the next chapter, Haku has a talk with Chihiro's mother.

I just made a couple of changes to the wording…I seem to miss a lot of small things when my rug rats are screaming

Thanks for all the great reviews Savvyzzzz, MeikoSakine, and Air Nomad.


	4. Chapter 4

Haku descended the stairs, heading for the kitchen where he could hear Mrs. Ogino starting on dinner. He wanted to talk to her about Chihiro, to make his intentions towards her daughter known and have their approval. He knew that would mean a lot to the girl he'd just tucked into her bed. He eased the door to the kitchen open, not wanting to startle the woman hard at work inside.

"Excuse me maam. May I speak with you?" Haku inquired politely.

Yuuko turned with a gracious smile, "Of course Shohaku. I hope you don't mind if I chop vegetable while we chat."

"I don't mind at all maam. I wanted to talk to you about Chihiro. She's a very intelligent and beautiful young lady." he started, slightly worried about how his intentions would be received.

"Yes. She's a lot like her father you know. Confident and stubborn to a fault, but loving and loyal to those she cares about." Yuuko said, a wistful sigh escaping her lips.

"All wonderful qualities." he agreed readily, "She is one of the most intriguing people I've ever met. I can see a lot of you in her too. You are both very beautiful."

"Oh my," she laughed, "You sure have a way with flattery young man."

"I only speak the truth maam." He replied with a short bow, "But what I really wanted to talk to you about was to ask for your permission to take your daughter out on a date tonight."

"She's never gone on a date before. She usually keeps to herself." But then she broke out into a smile, "I think it would be a wonderful idea for her to get out of the house. You seem to be such a nice young man. I'll speak with Akio, but I'm sure it will be fine. Where do you intend to take her?"

"I was actually going to ask you about that. I'm new in town and don't know any nice restaurants. I was hoping to take her out for a walk along the river afterwards."

"Now that sounds very romantic." She said, "well there's only one place in town with a romantic atmosphere like that. Urasaka's. It's just a couple blocks down from the school. It's very expensive though."

"Don't worry. I don't plan to spare any expense. I'd like to spoil her a little tonight."

Taken aback by the attachment to her daughter he seemed to have, she asked, " How long have you known Chihiro?"

Luckily Haku had been flawless in his fake identity, and had planned for just this question, "We went to the same elementary school together, though I was in a different class from her. I had, what you'd say was a puppy love crush on her but I never said anything. Now my father got to transfer wherever he wanted to, so I suggested that we move here."

"I see, what does your father do?"

Haku indulged her questions, flawlessly providing the information key to his cover for the week, adding a little charm and flattery to try to seem like the perfect gentleman. He desperately wanted his plan to work. He knew that leaving her family would be hard on Chihiro and wanted to ease her worry by letting her parents see that no one would take better care of their daughter than he.

A couple hours passed with the two of them chatting amiably about each other and the people important to them. Yukko was glad to see her daughter finally bringing someone home, especially someone so handsome and debonair.

"Dear, would you mind going and waking Chihiro. Dinner's almost ready and her father will be home shortly." Yuuko asked, glancing at the time.

"It would be my pleasure." He replied, sweeping from the room and up the stairs.

With deft fingers he eased the door open silently, and padded over to the bed. He studied her face for a moment. A few strands of chocolaty brown hair had escaped the shimmering hair tie he recognized from Zeniba. Her dark lashes standing out in vivid contrast to her pale complexion, fluttering every so often with whatever dream she was having. His gaze continued down her face, her lips were still red from her nervous chewing this afternoon. Dropping his eyes even further, he saw her delicate hand curled slightly just beneath her chin.

Not being able to resist the temptation any longer, he reached out a hand and brushed the backs of his fingers along her cheek, causing her face to scrunch up at being disturbed.

"Chihiro, sweetling, you need to wake up." He whispered as he brushed his lips where his fingers had been moments before.

Chihiro's face scrunched up even more as she stretched her arms up and lazily kicked the covers off, baring her midriff in the process.

"You know I think I could get used to watching you wake up." Haku smirked, his eyes trailing down her torso.

At that her eyes popped open, following his gaze. Realizing that her whole stomach was exposed, she quickly yanked her shirt back down, a dark blush spreading across her face.

"You're even cuter when you blush." Haku teased, "Anyway, your mother sent me up here to wake you. Dinner is nearly ready and your father will be home soon."

A look of alarm overtook her at the thought of her father meeting Haku. Her frightened eyes searching Haku's face for some sort of inkling of his intentions.

"Don't fret yourself, sweetling, I've already talked to your mother. I think she's thoroughly impressed with me. We had a wonderful chat while you were sleeping." He soothed.

Chihiro sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, "What did you two talk about?" she asked suspiciously.

"She wanted to know a bit more about me before she let me whisk away with her daughter." he said with a grin.

"So... she was okay with it?" She asked incredulously.

"You doubt my charm?" Haku said, faking pain, "She thinks that I'm a most upstanding young gentleman, a perfect date for her beautiful daughter."

"I doubt she'd think you were so perfect if she knew what you really were." Chihiro countered mischievously.

"Oh really? What mother wouldn't want her daughter courted by a god?" He questioned lightly.

"Courted?" Chihiro repeated, slightly breathless at the thoughts the word conjured in her imagination.

Haku smiled comfortingly at her, "Don't worry, we'll go slow. I want you to be comfortable with everything before we move on."

A grin spread across her face and she threw herself forward to where her dragon was seated at the end of her bed, "I'm not scared of anything. Not as long as I have you!"

Haku threw his head back, erupting in laughter, "We'd better get down stairs before your mother gets suspicious."

The pair descended the stairs, after Chihiro changed into something more suitable for a date, to find Chihiro's father seated at the table, his back to them, speaking to his wife, who spotted them as they entered the room.

"Sweetheart, this is Haku."

Akio turned to regard this boy who wished his permission.

"It is a great pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ogino." Haku said, bowing.

"I understand that you want to take my daughter out on a date." he said gruffly.

"Yes sir. I plan to take her out to dinner and then a walk by the river, with your permission of course." Haku replied graciously under Akio's intense gaze.

"What time will you be back?" he grunted.

"I promise to have your daughter back safe and sound by 10'o'clock." He answered.

"Chihiro."

"Yes daddy?"

"I want you home on time. If you are late you are grounded, do you understand?"

"Yes daddy. I'll be home." She said dutifully.

"Very well then. Have fun sweetie." He turned to Haku, "And you had better take good care of my daughter."

"She could not be in better hands, I can assure you." Haku reminded him, bowing again.

Chihiro waved good bye to her parents, assuring them once more that she would be home on time and left with Haku for what she was sure would be a magical night.


End file.
